Jewel Riders, Episode 13: Full Circle

Last time on Princess Gwenevere / Starla and the Jewel Riders, the Jewel Riders found the last Crown Jewel, but Kale took over Avalon and took our heroines’ magic. Will our heroes set everything right? Find out after the cut.

What Do We Remember About This Episode?

JW: Kit comes back! Cloud city!

Ry: Circle of Friendship Ceremony! First appearance of the irritating Gliders!

A Quick and Dirty Summary:
After a little “Last time on Jewel Riders” recap, we return to Kale’s magic experiments and the Jewel Riders’ quest for a solution to this kerfuffle.

Let’s start with Kale. She spends most of this episode trying to find a way to control the Crown Jewels. Unfortunately, most of her attempts just summon a hologram of Merlin.

Meanwhile, the Jewel Riders hang out at Merlin’s house trying to find a way to get their magic back. Tamara realizes that she can still hear her annoying baby animals, so there must be some magic left in their jewels. The girls remember that the Friendship Ring is the most magical place in Avalon, and they think that they can recharge their jewels there. Only one problem: there’s a chance they may not get their jewels back.

So they run off to the Friendship Ring, and after a lengthy flashback of every tender moment between the girls and their bonded animals, they get their jewels recharged. Now all they have to do is find Merlin! But how do they do that if Merlin is somewhere inaccessible by Travel Tree?

Not to worry! Tamara remembered that she could summon Kit the prism fox, so the Jewel Riders summon her. Kit arrives with some friends: the Gliders, who (obviously) glide the Wild Magic. Kit casts Levitate on the Jewel Riders, and they all fly up to a cloud city populated by cloud people. And wouldn’t you know it, there the Jewel Riders find Merlin in his little magic bubble.

Merlin tells the Jewel Riders that they have to use the Crystal Palace, the most powerful Enchanted Jewel in Avalon, to reverse all the damage Kale did. Before they get any detailed instructions, though, Kale shows up in a portal and has a little magic showdown with Merlin. Merlin manages to use Kale’s anti-magic to free himself from his magic bubble and sends the Jewel Riders back to Avalon. Of course, he doesn’t tell the Jewel Riders how to use the Crystal Palace to fix everything — he just tells them that they’ll figure it out. Yeah, real helpful of you, Merlin.

So the Jewel Riders make their way back to the Jewel Keep and decide to re-tune the Jewel Box’s setting by casting an Enchanted Jewel Circle. Of course, Kale shows up with Merlin’s staff right when the girls finish casting their spell, and steps into the little matrix formed by the Crown Jewels. This does not have the effect Kale anticipated. Merlin’s staff is destroyed, Kale disintegrates, and everything is returned to normal.

So all is well with the world, right? Well, not exactly. Merlin can’t return to Avalon because his jewel — which was on his staff — was destroyed. Apparently wizards can’t return to Avalon unless they possess their jewel. But the Crown Jewels are now tuned to the Jewel Riders, so … yay?

Oh, and if you’re wondering what happened to the dweasels: they decide to run off and tell Grimm that Kale is gone. And then, I don’t know, I guess they’ll have adventures in the Dragon Wagon or something.

Stray Observations
* A sort-of-funny quote:Archie: You know what that means?Babies: You missed us?Archie: Well, not exactly.

* I’ve always wondered why they never showed Tamara and Fallon going through the Friendship Ceremony. Seriously, these two need more backstory, now. Especially Tamara.

* How the Jewel Riders activate the Friendship Circle: “With all the power of the generations that have come before, and all the generations that will follow, the circle will turn. With the strength of friendship, we call upon the magic of Avalon. Long shall it be used for goodness.”

* How Tamara casts Summon Kit: “From heart to Heart Stone, we call our friend Kit. You were lost, but you were never alone. We need your help now to bring Merlin home.”

* OH GOD I HATE THE GLIDERS. You’re going to see more of them in the second season.

* Okay, so the Crystal Palace is a massive Enchanted Jewel. It’s not a case of an architect going crazy with a Bedazzler — nope, it really is a giant magic jewel.

* Another funny quote:Rufis: Stand back! I have a smelly magic jewel!Twig: Um, Rufis, it’s just a pebble.Rufis: Oh, um, never mind.

* How the Jewel Riders re-tune the Jewel Box: “With the Sun Stone, let the magic always shine bright! May the Moon Stone always keep our path in sight! With the Heart Stone, let love rain down on Avalon and set things right!”

* Anyone here have the Kale action figure? Her one feature was her “glowing” eyes. This is the only episode, as far as I know, in which her eyes glow.

* This week’s PSAs: “Sometimes we make sacrifices for our friends,” and “Things are always changing, allowing you to learn and grow.”

Ry’s Comments

* Does Kale just not care about the Jewel Riders after eating up their Jewel Power? Because it’s awfully nice of her to just let them hang out in Merlin’s house, plotting their revenge on her. (JW: The same thing kind of happens in Trial by Fire, in which the Dark Sorceress doesn’t really pay attention to the girls when they invade her lair.)

* Nice bits of continuity: Tamara playing the magical harp in hopes that it would call down magic again, and Kit returning to help they ride the Wild Magic sans Travel Trees.

* Love this line from Archie: “I’m not a genius, I’m just an owl!”

* It’s so nice that they actually find Merlin in the Cloud City, and that he’s still trapped in the bubble. They showed his power by having him use Kale’s own anti-magic to free himself from her original spell.

* Now that Merlin’s Key is destroyed, does the Jewel Box stay locked, or do the Enchanted Jewels now function as the new key since the magic is tuned to them?

* Wait, they just left Rufus and Twig to hang out in the Jewel Keep after everything was over? (Also, I just realized on this viewing that the dweasels are wearing arm bracers as tail and leg armor!)

* This episode nicely sets up the “without their jewel, the great wizards can’t return to Avalon” rule that governs S2.

Avalon Connections
* “Friend in Me” is a Be*Tween song that only shows up in the original edition.

* Full Circle is the name of the final book in the series.

* The Jewel Riders realizing that they can still hear their animals with their drained jewels is similar to Kara discovering that she can still talk to Lyra without her Unicorn Jewel.

* The way the Jewel Riders recharge their jewels is the same way the party heals the Magic Web in Full Circle. In both cases, the heroes get their jewels back.

* Gliders show up in the Avalon series, but are called “spinnels”. They are distantly related to fairy dragons / dragonflies.

* Kara has a brief adventure in the clouds above the Fairy Realm in All’s Fairy in Love and War.

* The cloud people somehow knowing about the Jewel Riders’ adventures is similar to the citizens of the Fairy Realms knowing about the party’s adventures.

GIF-a-palooza!
GIFs will be posted soon.

Map Mania!
The cloud city doesn’t make it on the map. New Camelot is on there, though.

And this plans makes some sense, but brings another question: did Merlin faked to be destroyed, so to set a trap? How did he do it? And did he lie to them too, tricking everyone, while knowing in advance that the jewel circle won’t really work? This guy, what does he think he is, a protagonist in Guy Ritchie film? Or maybe are we just over-analyzing a kids’ cartoon that was never supposed to make sense? 😉